Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 37.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,964 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,542 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 10.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,963,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $342,796,000 after buying an additional 283,562 shares during the period. abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,849,638 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $260,428,000 after acquiring an additional 118,909 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,728,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $315,641,000 after acquiring an additional 27,358 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 74.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $162,283,000 after purchasing an additional 599,610 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 3.3% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,004,060 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $116,140,000 after purchasing an additional 32,314 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE SCCO traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $97.68. 1,089,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,186,357. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $78.82 and a 52 week high of $129.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.91. The stock has a market cap of $76.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. Analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.81.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.